Global dollar banking startup Augustus raises $180M Series B at $1B valuation

Quick Take

• Augustus raised a $180 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation led by Tiger Global, with participation from Hummingbird, QED, and founders from Nubank, Ramp, Circle, Deel and others.
• The company is building a federally chartered "Global Dollar Bank" that gives international fintechs and banks direct access to U.S. dollar accounts, rails and stablecoin connectivity via an API-first platform.

Augustus, which is building what it calls the Global Dollar Bank, has raised a $180 million Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, the company announced. Tiger Global led the round, joined by Hummingbird, QED Investors and a group of prominent fintech and crypto founders.

The financing follows Augustus securing conditional approval for a U.S. national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in May, making it the eighth bank to receive such approval since 2010. The charter would allow the company to offer directly regulated dollar banking infrastructure rather than relying on intermediary banks and middleware providers.

Augustus provides an API-first platform for international fintechs and banks that supports operating and FBO accounts with named virtual accounts. Clients can transact via SWIFT, ACH, SEPA and stablecoins, with processing already in the billions of dollars for customers that include Kraken.

The company plans to use the new capital to expand its core banking system, Marble, which underpins 24/7 settlement and applies AI across the bank's back office. Augustus is targeting customers in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa that need direct dollar access and modern correspondent banking alternatives.

Angel backers in the round include David Velez of Nubank, Karim Atiyeh of Ramp, Sean Neville of Circle, Alex Bouaziz of Deel, Balaji Srinivasan, and several other fintech and AI founders. The leadership team is composed of banking and regulatory veterans, including President Greg Quarles, a former bank CEO and senior OCC regulator, and Benjamin Alexander, former Chief Compliance Officer at Column and an executive at JPMorgan and HSBC.

Founded in 2022, Augustus has now raised $210 million to date, according to the release. The company positions its platform as a Western alternative to emerging digital currency and clearing systems such as China's Digital Yuan and Russia's proposed BRICS Pay.